Off Beat: Campaign drones on

In the run-up to Tuesday's big election, the major political event in Yuba-Sutter last week had nothing to do with any of the local elections.

There weren't any candidates within miles. It's unlikely many of the people who were spectators would be voting locally, either.

No, this was one of those rare outbreaks of protest in Yuba-Sutter. You don't see them very often, and when you do, they generally look pretty amateurish.

This protest outbreak wasn't too impressive, but the folks doing the protesting came a long way. They got little bang for their buck.

Their issue was those deadly drones that have been killing evil-doers over in the Middle East.

The protest was aimed at Beale Air Force Base, where they have Global Hawk drones, the ones that don't carry missiles. They just do recon.

But there was a point to be made, and Beale is about as close to the Bay Area as you can get to find a drone, any drone. No drones at Travis Air Force Base, apparently.

So the anti-droners, almost none of whom were from Yuba-Sutter, made their point to the folks who happen to drive through the main gate at Beale.

If you live in Yuba-Sutter and have no reason to go to Beale, you would be blissfully oblivious to this spasm of political activism.

Yuba-Sutter is pretty pro-Beale because it does so much for the local economy. That's confirmed as you drive down North Beale Road.

Back in the good old days, the anti-droners would have been dismissed as peaceniks, a word that was probably in wide use in Yuba-Sutter during the Vietnam debacle.

So much for political activism here.

And speaking of the Tuesday election, this columnist received, much to his surprise, some robocalls at his humble abode. But these weren't all robocalls about local elections.

Two of the recorded calls were about elections in San Francisco. One of them urged the columnist to vote for Phil Ting for Assembly.

Since this columnist lives in Yuba-Sutter, it might be difficult to vote for Phil Ting, even by absentee ballot.

One would hope the political consultants responsible for these calls would realize that the 530 area code probably does not include many eligible voters who would cast ballots in San Francisco.

Good luck anyway, Phil. You're spending your campaign funds well.